Articles

MAT seeks to rethink medicine, medicines, and medical systems in local and global contexts, within the broad fields of medical anthropology, science and technology studies (STS), and global health. In line with our commitment to open access, accepted articles (up to 10,000 words) will be written in clear language that makes insights available to a wide readership. The editors seek to publish work that innovates both theoretically and methodologically, or that revisits classical anthropological theory in thinking through contemporary problems. We also seek work from ‘applied’ anthropologists and activists working in sites outside of academia. Submissions undergo a double-blind peer-review process.

Think pieces

Some of the best thinking occurs long before anything gets written down on paper – on long walks, during a fit of insomnia, or in conversations with friends or colleagues. Because the process of academic publication disciplines thought through conventions of style and referencing, and through the anxieties of influence that haunt all writing, MAT publishes short pieces (up to 4,000 words) that reflect ‘upstream’ thinking. These may be essays, theoretical forays, instigations, and experimental texts that may be tentative, unfinished, edgy. Our goal is to provoke debate, unearth hidden assumptions, and contribute to decentering and deprovincializing medical anthropology and STS.

Photo essays

Given the centrality of observing, seeing, and representing to ethnographic projects, MAT provides a forum for researchers to present a set of up to ten photographs that critically engages with these issues. Submissions should include an accompanying essay (1,000 words), reflecting on how photography shapes the ways in which ethnographic subjects are approached, collaborated with, framed, and presented as objects of science and art. Topics could include: methodology, (inter)subjectivity, aesthetics of representation, bodies in/out of place, environment and health, health messaging (both popular and public), health and health practices, and human/health technology interactions. Please contact our editorial board with a proposal prior to submission.

Book and film reviews

MAT publishes reviews of recent books and films related to health, illness, and medicine. Reviews may focus on either a single work (500 to 1,000 words) or three to five related works (2,000 words). The works reviewed may be in any language, but reviews must be in English. Reviews should be written with care and in a spirit of critical engagement. In addition to some description of content and form, reviews should be generous about a work’s openings, innovations, and implications, and honest about its possible limitations. Longer review essays examine a handful of works and relate these not only to each other but also to broader debates in medical anthropology, STS, and global health.

Nightstand essays

The Nightstand introduces favorite works, intriguing scholars, and new insights gleaned from other fields. What are you reading, and why can’t you stop thinking about it? Who do you want MAT readers to know about? The Nightstand also invites reflections on intellectual process and influence. How did you come to your research idea? Was there an epiphany, so to speak, or did you trace disparate threads, stopping and starting, to get to it? What are your sources of information and inspiration – websites, archives, online collections – on a particular topic? Submissions may take the form of short essays (1,000 words); annotated lists of links; interviews with authors, artists, and activists; and more.

Dissertating essays

Are you currently writing your dissertation, or recently defended it, and want to share your ideas with the wider academic community? MAT invites essays (1,000 words) that consider how your thinking developed and changed during the dissertation process. How was your focus refined? Which of your insights were unexpected? This is an opportunity to introduce a broader readership to those key texts that influenced your research, the challenges that caused you to rethink your agenda, and the ‘a-ha’ moments that forced you to change direction. What are the new studies or ideas that are relevant for a broad audience? What do you think are the big questions for future research?

Conference reports

MAT seeks volunteer bloggers to report on highlights from conferences and workshops (250 to 1,000 words). While it is doubtful that reading MAT can make up for missing the growing array of conferences in medical anthropology, STS, and global health that are held around the world, this section aims nonetheless to assuage the disappointment of having been unable to attend for financial, logistical, or ecological reasons. Conference reports are designed to be complementary to abstracts and programs available online, and are meant to give a sense of any ‘buzz’ generated, trends to be aware of, and interesting new directions. Workshop reports will cover smaller and more specialized meetings, offering a glimpse into specific questions and debates.

Teaching and learning materials

This section is a resource for teachers of medical anthropology, STS, and global health, whether that teaching is in the classroom or in the field. Syllabi, writing assignments, research guides, simulations, and games – what are you using that is working? MAT invites submissions of all forms of teaching materials, reflections on successful assignments or experiences, and links to other resources.

Guidelines Submissions

Preparation of manuscripts

We use Open Journal Systems for the submission of manuscripts. Your manuscript should be saved as a Microsoft Word file, and be formatted in 12 point, Times New Roman font, and single spaced. In the submission process, you will be asked to provide contact information, up to five keywords, an abstract, an image or images, and a biographical note.

Citations and references

The journal uses Chicago Style internal citations, also known as ‘author/date’ style (AuthorLastName YEAR, page), and reference lists. Please format your citations and references according to the examples found at this website: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Please include DOIs wherever possible.

Please keep endnotes to a minimum; include note material in the text whenever possible. Number notes consecutively throughout the paper, and place them at the end of the paper before the references.

House style

Spelling. Either UK or American English may be used, as long as the author is consistent. 

For almost all matters of style, MAT follows The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., and for spelling, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.  Please note a few exceptions:

– Headings. Please use initial capital letters only, including after a colon.

– Quotations. Please follow British-style punctuation (single quotation marks to open and close quotations, double quotation marks only within a quote, and punctuation placed outside of quotation marks) and the insertion of block quotes for extracts of 50 words or longer. 

– Dates. Please style dates following this example: 12 May 2010.

Hyperlinks. Please leave all URL addresses visible so they can be read in PDF versions of articles.

Advisory Board

• Vincanne Adams, Anthropology, History and Social Medicine, University of California San Francisco
• Jean Comaroff, African and African American Studies and Anthropology, Harvard University
• Veena Das, Department of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University
• Alice Desclaux, Institut de recherche pour le développement, Senegal
• Judith Farquhar, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago
• Anita Hardon, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam
• Shirley Lindenbaum, Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
• Julie Livingston, Department of History, Rutgers University
• Margaret Lock, Departments of Social Studies of Medicine and Anthropology, McGill University
• Joe Lugalla, Department of Anthropology, University of New Hampshire
• Sheryl McCurdy, Center for Health Promotion & Prevention Research, University of Texas
• Deborah Posel, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town
• Eugene Raikhel, Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago
• Shalini Randeria, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
• Peter Redfield, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina
• Nikolas Rose, Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, King’s College London
• Getnet Tadele, Department of Sociology, Addis Ababa University
• Susan Reynolds Whyte, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen